The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a national organization broken up into local affiliates that provides certain types of advocacy for people diagnosed with mental illness. If you are looking for a peer led small group meeting that encourages participation, and self expression, NAMI Connection might be the program for you. If you are interested in better understanding a family member diagnosed, NAMI Family to Family is an excellent class offered just for that purpose, and NAMI Family Support Group is also a great resource for family members who are trying to deal with the unique challenges faced by the families of people diagnosed with a mental illness. If you are searching for an answer to battle the stigma of mental illness, NAMI's In Our Own Voice presentations might be that solution.NAMI Schaumburg Area is an all volunteer affiliate dedicated to enriching the lives of people diagnosed with a mental illness by offering a peer centered, community oriented approach to attending to the challenging situations faced by those having a diagnosis. Please take a few minutes to look this site over, and see what we have to offer. We'd love to have you get involved by participating in what we do.If you have any questions about the ways you might benefit, or get involved, please contact Scott at (630) 379-8423 or email namischaumburgarea@gmail.com. You can also visit our Facebook page here: Nami Schaumburg Area.

My philosophy is that everyone at some point in their lives could benefit from talking to a professional, someone who is non-biased, a great listener, and will collaborate with you in accomplishing goals or navigating challenges you may wish to overcome. Our professional office offers an atmosphere of ambience, confidentiality, and hope. So, what brings you in today? ​

As an IOP Counselor for the dual diagnosis population of clients my primary responsibility is to perform six-week educational groups and aftercare program. I am responsible for assessing the client’s appropriateness for the IOP/aftercare level of care, orienting the client to program rules and expectations, and developing individualized treatment plans prior to client’s enrollment in the program. Once the client is enrolled, I conduct three specific group therapy sessions using the following evidenced-based psychotherapy modalities: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Illness Management and Recovery (IMR).

Now is the perfect time for the mental health community to come together and advocate for this population. Volunteer for mental health groups in your neighborhood, find a chapter near you at http://www.namischaumburgarea.org/

The Vision: We propose to help create and oversee the operation of safe, affordable, permanent supportive housing for individuals with living with serious mental illness who are living in the north or northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Reporting to the Program Manager, with accountability to the RN and treatment team, ensures a safe and therapeutic patient environment by conducting unit rounds and providing supervision of patients. Assists with planning and conducts group and individual therapy programs. Performs patient assessments and documents patient progress. 1. Continually monitors the environment by conducting unit rounds, safety rounds and contraband searches to ensure that the physical environment is safe, orderly and therapeutic. Ensures patient safety by providing one-to-one supervision of patients. Documents precaution records. 2. Facilitates didactic, educational, unit programs and community groups within assigned treatment programs as directed. Encourages patient participation and involvement in therapeutic activities. Monitors and documents patient progress communicating patient information to the RN, physicians and family members as appropriate. 3. Participates in assessment and treatment team meetings, reports and documents results of behaviors and intervention procedures and assists with planning for the continued progression of treatment for patients under the psychiatrist’s care. 4. Provides assistance to patients with activities of daily living under the direction of the RN including assisting with bathing and toileting of patients with those needs. Assists with specimen collection, taking vitals and EKG’s. 5. Performs various clerical and administrative assignments to support department operations. 6. Orients new patients and their families to the unit, program and physical environment. Provides appropriate patient information when accepting or receiving patients from other units. 7. Adheres to all Northwest Community Hospital standards, policies and procedures.

A 2013 graduate of Adler University with a Masters of Counseling degree, with Illinois licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and currently completing a two-year post-graduate clinical practicum externship as a Counselor for the private practice of Mark D. Parisi, PsyD. & Associates, P.C. This rigorous Externship Program met all the criteria for the next level of licensure as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in the State of Illinois. And, I have already submitted my application to sit for the LCPC licensure.This externship provided full-time, direct clinical experience which included evaluation and counseling treatment of adolescent, adult and senior residents. These residents were chronically mentally and medically ill, many physically disabled, and other residents were dual-diagnosed with a drug or alcohol diagnosis and mental illness. I am trained to treat co-occurring disorders. During this two-year externship I received weekly clinical supervision.My Counselor responsibilities include a resident caseload of forty residents in eight (8) different nursing homes. Each week I rotate between four of these facilities where I perform individual counseling sessions, as well as groups consisting of recovery and socialization groups. I also perform social services functions such as moving residents back into the community by coordinating the resident’s Managed Care Organizations and organizations like the Colbert Foundation. I also performed the following:Assessment of residentsTreatment planning Case management Crisis interventionCounselingGroup therapyPsycho-educational groups Reports/record keeping Consultation with ancillary services regarding resident needsWeekly supervision

• Log voicemails (75 per day) into online system• Return voicemails completing in online system• Log faxes (50) into online system• Respond to fax requests • Check Bed Board for bed availability • Screening the client for appropriateness for admission to program(s) either in-patient detox or rehab or refer out to another facility.• Determine insurance appropriateness• Scheduling an appointment for possible admission• Perform admission procedures: drug testing, copying and verifying identification for insurance purposes, photograph, creation of folders for billing and client file.• Call nursing staff to perform admission procedures• Intake counselor completes admission process paperwork and introduction to program.• Call tech to take client to their bed.

Completed my clinical practicum drug and alcohol counseling internship at Presence Holy Family Medical Center's, Keys to Recovery. Next, I will be sitting for the Certification examination.

o Intake of patientso Arranging insurance coverageo Case managemento Individual counselingo Therapeutic group counselingo Goal settingo Progress notes

● Processed corporate legal eBills using Citrix, SAP, and CSC Navigator applications; ● Created training manual for eBilling process● Ordered office supplies for the department using Ariba application● Special project matching legal payees with law firms using Martindale website. ● Administrative assistant duties, answering phones (Avaya 9608 SIP Deskphone), editing documents, created and edited power point presentations, excel spreadsheets, and word documents.● Book travel using EZ-Travel.

Prepared patent agreements for signature by the inventors, and followed-up same, ensuring that each patent was completed and signed by all inventors in preparation for filing in the federal court in a timely fashion. Oversaw all special projects such as matching peer reviewed scientific articles in preparation for filing. Researched journal articles for the patent attorney's using Abbvie's library application; answered phones; retrieved files; oversaw copy projects and binder preparation for special meetings of the attorneys; created a racking system for special projects and file creation of patents being processed. I was able to answer questions at a moment's notice about the status of any patent at any time, which was never the case before my implement of this tool.

I had an individual client caseload of 16 adult clients of various ages, clinical diagnoses whom I saw for an hour twice weekly at the work site. These clients were also dual-diagnosed with intellectual / developmental disabilities i.e., mental retardation comorbid with a diagnosis as schizoid-affective disorder. Conducted group therapy with a co-lead at the worksite and CILA’s houses that were experiencing problems, focusing on team building. These individual clients and groups were located within four different north suburban Clearbrook facilities. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) was the main theoretical orientation used for state insurance purposes, as this approach best facilitates positive behavior and minimizes negative behavior. I also utilized Adlerian theory and interventions which best addressed the client’s feelings of inferiority, which influences nbx their lifestyle. When appropriate, other therapeutic orientations were utilized depending on the client’s issues and goals. Further responsibilities included: Creating a monthly goal in collaboration with the client, track the daily sessions in the HSMS database.Each month’s we counselors would close out the total month’s sessions determining the client’s overall percentage of accomplishment for that month..

LTE project manager/legal administrative assistant reporting to Senior Real Estate Attorney and his team of three atorneys in the drafting and processing of legal documents. Prepare same for EVP's and VP's signatures, notary and dispersement via UPS. Prep outside counsel invoices; data entry of payment commencement notification letters and disbursement via certified mail. Prep of bond notification letters, create abstract real estate documents. Creation of policy and procedure manual for this project manager/legal administrative assistant position.

My day-to-day support of this team included processing of consultant attorney billing statements, scheduling calendars (Outlook/Meeting Place), arranging for travel (Orbitz Corporate), processing expense reports, maintained licensure records for each attorney. Responsible for maintaing all office supplies, coordinate new attorney interviews with HR and team, troubleshoot all computer and peripheral problems. Coordinated team meetings and training seminars in-house and at CNA field offices. Developed a policy and procedure manual for the CLEM Admin position; served as a “buddy” for new CNA Admin hires. Prepared correspondence and all monthly and quarterly reports using the Business Objects report writing feature of this Oracle database.

Provide support for 500 legal and non-legal staff international law firm, with 10 international satellite offices. Applications supported included Outlook 98 email, Lotus Notes, Corel Suite 8, Microsoft Office Suites 97, 98 and 2000, PC Docs Open document management program, Win Zip, Adobe Acrobat, Carpe Diem Time Entry, Clientele call tracking program. Also, all model HP laser jet printers, most laptop models and peripherals including Palm and Blackberry PDA’s; also supported remote access software for attorneys, and developed training materials for the department.

For the first 2 years, I was employed as an Administrative Assistant. Afterwards, I was trained as a Network Administrator and assisted in the creation and implementation of the Novell 3.1.2 network from a designated word processing system. Four years after that the firm upgraded the network from Novell to Windows NT 4.0. I designed the document profiles for PC Docs Open document management program. Migrated the firm’s client database and installed Windows 95 on the client computers. Oversaw a PSI net as the email provider utilizing Outlook, and maintaining the 3 Com hubs. Installed application upgrades and administered the ProSystem FX tax prep software. Maintained the Cisco router system, upgrading Lexis Nexis (litigation site research software), administered the CompuServe internet service provider, monitored the guest responses of the LO&F website and performed conflict checks using a Q&A database. Maintained the Polystar docket program for the paralegal staff, maintained the Meridian CD Net Tower and performed Internet research for the legal staff. Maintained network security, the remote access server utilizing PC Anywhere and Shiva remote software. Trained all end users (legal, nonlegal and temporary secretarial staff) on all software applications and tax programs. My job description consisted of Network Administrator, Trainer, Help Desk Analyst, and Temp Legal Secretary and developed training materials and guidelines for each function.